Adams State University undergraduate students must now enroll in 15 credit hours per semester to be considered full-time, effective for the fall 2015 semester, according to Dr. Frank Novotny, vice president for Academic Affairs.

Financial aid is awarded based on enrollment status. Students enrolling in fewer than 15 credits will not be eligible for their full award, but may qualify for half-time or three/quarter-time awards.

Most scholarships require full-time enrollment, including athletic scholarships, private scholarships administered by the Adams State University Foundation, as well as the Experience Colorado Scholarship, Promising Scholar Award, Academic Achievement Award, Valedictorian Scholarship, Merit Scholarship, Milestone Scholarship, Grizzly Partner Scholarship, and SLV Promise. The deadline to apply for scholarships for the 2015-16 academic year is March 1. It is also recommended students submit the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) by March 1.

Students are urged to work with their academic advisors to assure full-time enrollment. Advising Weeks are planned for March 9-20. Students who will be seniors next fall (those who have completed at least 90 credits) will have priority for fall registration, March 30-31. Registration for underclassmen and graduate students begins April 1.

Previously, 12 credit hours constituted full-time enrollment. Novotny explained the change was made to improve degree completion rates. Students must average 15 credits per semester in order to graduate within four years. In addition, research has shown that students with higher credit loads do better academically.

The Adams State University Hatfield Gallery, in conjunction with the second annual Women's Week, will feature an exhibit by women. Women's Voices in Art opens February 16 and continues through March 12. An opening reception will be held from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, in the Art Building.

Last year, sociology major Tori Martinez '15 initiated the idea for a Women's Week. With support from students, professors, and staff she helped organize a week of activities to celebrate women. This year the ASU Women's Week activities will take place from March 7 through March 14 and include Women's Voices in Art.

Taking a ceramics class with Jennifer Gawronski, assistant professor of art, inspired Martinez to host women artists in the Hatfield Gallery. "Being from the valley myself, I really think it is important to acknowledge local artists. Women's Week is a perfect time to honor our local female artists."

"It was important for me that the show be eclectic," Tori said. "There isn't just one type of art, and I wanted to show the work of various art forms." Along with artwork by Tori, her grandmother, Viola Martinez' weaving will also be on exhibit. "My grandparents were weavers and my grandfather's work is at the Smithsonian. I am honored to share my grandmothers weaving at this art show. My family is very excited about it as well."

For more information contact the Art Department at 719-587-7823. Visit Women's Week, for a listing of events scheduled from March 7 through March 14.

The Adams State University Cloyde Snook Gallery exhibit, Propel, by local artist Sharon McCoy, displays a body of ceramic sculptures fixed on a portrayal of longing and a passionate desire to journey beyond the restrictive present. McCoy will give an artist lecture at 4 p.m. Thursday, February 19, in the Art Building room 227. An opening reception will follow the lecture until 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Propel, a solo exhibition, embodies the emotions of isolation and captivity tempered with the hope of escape. McCoy's figures appear in a trance-like state of daydream absorbed by fanciful journeys, and are propelled into imaginative journeys as well as lives of personal completeness. The show will be displayed from February 16 through March 12.

The elongated figures in Propel are symbolic of unmet desires. The clothing varies on each sculpture to become specific with each journey. Vehicles can range from a comfy chair to a high chair or the chair can transform into a flying machine that can resemble an animal or even a moon. In addition to using clay as her primary medium, McCoy incorporates found objects and metal into many of her sculptures.

Propel is a depiction of fanciful flights taken in creatively propelled chairs and vehicles as an avenue for escape from daily entrapments. McCoy invites the viewer to take a journey with her.

The exhibition will also feature McCoy's recent publication of her children's book, What If? In addition, there will be a book signing as well as a reading of the book.

McCoy is a studio artist in Monte Vista, Colo. In May of 2014, she graduated with academic honors, earning an MFA in ceramics at Fort Hays State University, in Hays, Kansas. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees, in art, from Adams State. She has also studied as an Artist in Residence in Shigaraki, Japan.

She has recently represented FHSU in the National Student Juried Exhibition at NCECA in Milwaukee, WI, where she was honored with the Studio Potter Merit Award.

Adams State University Art Department faculty each chose an artist they admire, respect, and connect with, to exhibit in the Faculty Invites show. The exhibit is on display in the Cloyde Snook Gallery from January 19 through February 12. An opening reception will be held from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 27. The event is free and open to the public.

Johnson and Margaret Doell, Art Department chair and assistant vice president for Academic Affairs, were in the same class of American Council on Education Fellows in 2012-13. At that time, Johnson was director of the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts at Longwood University. She was recently appointed Vice President of Advancement at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC.

"As a fellow 'Fellow' holding an MFA in photography I connected with Johnson as an artist and admire her ability to balance challenging administrative positions with art-making," Doell said. "I think her ability to combine photography in multi-media artworks that are highly conceptual but personal, and that reference art history while questioning social pressures are very contemporary."

Johnson's work comes from a series entitled 'Confrontational Melancholy'. Intentionally uncomfortable for the viewer, the works are ridiculously silly, strangely sinister, and steeped in confrontational melancholy. These aren't simplistic images with surfaces embellished with kitsch tchotchkes. They signal a metaphoric crack in a psychic foundation.

Thinkatron by Esteban Bojorquez

Visiting Taos, New Mexico, Dana Provence, professor of art, saw a Pop Surrealism show at the Greg Moon Gallery. Bojorquez's artwork caught Provence's eye and imagination. "It was a great show, but Esteban's work was a stand out. His work represents a wide variety of media including assemblage, painting, sculpture, film, music and installation, 'explorations of materials, techniques and the inherent ironies of life.' He is a master of assemblage art and I believe the ASU and SLV communities will really enjoy experiencing his artwork."

Roger Eriksen, professor of art said he and Fernandez went to grad school together at the University of Idaho. "He is primarily a painter and has a very free style about his work," Eriksen said. Fernandez currently teaches drawing and color theory at the Arkansas State University, Beebe.

The intensity, destruction, and resurrection of the West Fork, Papoose, and Windy Pass wildfires is conveyed in the photography exhibit Transformation. The images, by Margaret Doell and Cheryl Ravens, will be on display in the Adams State University Art Department FRONT exhibit area from January 19 through February 27. An opening reception will be held from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 27. The event is free and open to the public.

Ravens and Doell said their goal is to give the viewer a sense of wonderment in the burn alongside its sheer destruction.

Photograph by Cheryl Ravens

The Rio Grande National Forest fires burned approximately 109,615 acres in the summer of June, 2013. "By working through the initial 'hot burn' of the fire through its containment, we hope to communicate the power of the burn from the smoke and huge cloud plumes, through the rebirth of the forest 15 months later. In order to capture the emotion of the fire we have combined our photographs with actual burned items, remnant reminders of its intensity."

A sense of moving through the forest will be created by hanging photographs at varying heights from the ceiling. As stewards of the land and enthusiasts of hiking the Rio Grande National Forest, both artists have strong feelings about the fire and its aftermath. "After a powerful fire there is a bit yin and yang; the shock at the amount of land claimed vs. the joy of seeing the land being reborn."

For more information contact the Art Department at 719-587-7823.

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Adams State University art students will be able to add more bling to their jewelry creations, thanks to Jim Miles and Claudia "Curtis" Ramsay, who donated a collection of gemstones valued at more than $60,000 for student use. This was the Boulder couple's second such donation to Adams State; the first was valued at $70,000.

"These gifts have created a flurry of excitement and interest for the jewelry program and students. The two sizable collections represent a wealth of diversity in types of gemstones and variety of cuts," Provence said. "Students will benefit for years to come. They will be able to reference the collection and design original body art to include one or more of these gemstones. It is a fabulous opportunity created by these generous donors."

Miles, who once worked as a gem wholesaler, chose Adams State for the donation upon the recommendation of a friend who had taken a jewelry class with Provence several years ago.

In a galaxy far, far away . . . if only Anakin Skywalker had access to good psychoanalysis, perhaps the whole black look and attitude would never have happened.

Emily Wright psychoanalyzed Skywalker from the film, Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith, for a course taught by Dr. Kim Kelso, Psychology Department chair, and presented her research at the Seventh Annual Student Scholar Days in April. Wright's presentation attracted a large audience of the latest generation of Star Wars fans.

Student Scholar Days is a two-day, multidisciplinary conference that highlights the academic achievements of Adams State undergraduate students. This public forum gives a glimpse into the excellent work students produce and is open to faculty, staff, students, and community members. This year, 26 students presented their work in music, poetry, archaeology, sociology, and science.

San Luis Valley natives Stefan Ortega and Rafe Paulson represented the sciences. Ortega, a cellular & molecular biology major, presented a slide that showed him as a nine-year-old accepting first place for his Science Fair project in botany. His interest continued into college. Paulson built a spectrometer out of Legos, and explained how it works.

Art major Laura Hopkins '14 creates wearable art intended to trigger the viewer's imagination. She creates a positive experience for people to escape negative stressors in this world. Music major Ben Paden presented his research on Greek-French composer/music theorist/architect-engineer Iannis Xenakis. Paden said he "combined the art forms of architecture and music into a complete experience."

Another student scholar, Mark Mabry Jr., began his presentation, "How Bavarians and Brandenbergers Became Germans," by telling the audience, "The region that today we all think of as Germany was actually, during this period, an intricate puzzle of sovereign entities."

Elementary-aged students in the PALS program visited the Adams State University Art Education class twice in November to create art and build a community from recycled materials.

Jenny Gawronski, assistant professor of art, teaches the art education courses. Working with PALS (Positive Activities Lead to Success) provides the Adams State students with their first teaching experience and builds collaboration beginning teachers. "The art education students worked together to create the lesson plan and co-teach the class." Gawronski has created opportunities for the ASU students to collaborate with each other in their ASU courses, which aligns with the Colorado Department of Education's Professional Teaching Standards.

Adams State art education student Rachel Kresl '17 said working together brought out a diversity of ideas. "It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to work with others."

Gawronski said the students learn to respect everyone's ideas and approaches to teaching art. "The ASU students are encouraged to contribute their strengths and ideas during the design phase of the art lesson." The lesson included elements and principles of design, historic and contemporary artists and a final critique. "The Adams State students light up when the PALS students come in the classroom. The co-teaching experience offers the beginning teachers a chance to practice their teaching strategies and leadership skills."

PALS attend two sessions and with guidance create forms to build a large community. "The children choose their favorite aspect of their community to build," Gawronski said.

Tim Dellett received his master's degree from Adams State in '02 and now runs the PALS Program. He said watching the art education students take a leadership role and engage the children in the project is "where the magic happens." He appreciates the partnerships with departments across campus. "We build strength through collaborations and Adams State is one of our primary partners."

Works by Denver area artists will be on display in the Adams State University Cloyde Snook Gallery from November 3 through November 21. An artists' lecture is scheduled at 4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, in the Art Building room 227. A reception will follow the lecture until 7 p.m.